Is that a starting pistol or a shot in the head?

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Ed Miliband has sidelined the deficit deniers, but he still has battles ahead with his Shadow Chancellor

George Osborne should think carefully before teasing Alan Johnson about his promise to rush out and buy an economics primer in preparation for the job of Shadow Chancellor. I distinctly remember seeing a copy of the Letts guide to economics on the Chancellor’s own bookshelf in his House of Commons office when he was first appointed to the opposition role.

Mr Johnson may not be an economist, but then neither were the last four men in charge of the Treasury. Of course, like Mr Osborne, a historian by training, the former postman will have to take a crash course in